New Mexico governor brings Kerry message to state Latinos

He visits Bethlehem, Lancaster, Philadelphia and Reading.

October 18, 2004|By Kevin Pentón Of The Morning Call

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson had just wrapped up an appearance at a NASCAR race Saturday in his home state when Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign requested his presence Sunday in Pennsylvania.

A few hours later, the former Energy Secretary under President Clinton was swinging through the Latino neighborhoods of Lancaster, Philadelphia and Reading, finishing his tour Sunday with an appearance before nearly 100 people at the offices of the Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations in south Bethlehem.

Richardson, a Latino who also served as a congressman for New Mexico and the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, made several remarks in Spanish to the partisan crowd and highlighted the fact that President Bush stands to be the first president since Herbert Hoover to lose jobs during his tenure.

"I may not be able to keep a job," Richardson quipped, "but I've held more jobs than George Bush has created."

Several of the Lehigh Valley's most prominent Democrats squeezed onto a small stage along with Richardson, including state Reps. Jennifer Mann, 132nd District; T.J. Rooney, 133rd District and Steve Samuelson, 135th District.

Others on the stage, set around a collage of Kerry campaign signs and copies of works by Puerto Rican artist Luis G. Cajiga, included Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan, Bethlehem City Councilman Ismael Arcelay and Joe Driscoll, the Democratic candidate for the 15th Congressional District.

Julio Guridy, an Allentown city councilman, said he was proud as a Latino to be standing next to Richardson, a person he had admired for his accomplishments for a long time.

After two political conventions, three debates and a barrage of political advertising and media attention, Guridy said he was puzzled by the fact that there still remain people who are undecided over who they will vote for in the election.

"What makes people so indecisive?" Guridy asked. "The choice between these two candidates, these two parties, is so clear I just don't get it."

A Quinnipiac University poll between Oct. 9 and Oct. 11 of 1,343 likely Pennsylvania voters suggested the race in Pennsylvania continues to be a dead heat.

Forty-nine percent of those polled said they would vote for Kerry, and 47 percent said they would vote for Bush. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.